Short Interval Workouts

[gregsmith01748]

Hi,

I am seeking to improve my Low Pull and 500m PBs. I am looking for suggestions for short interval workouts that would help me accomplish this. From what I understand, I need workouts that will have me pulling splits as fast or faster than what I want to row for 500m. My objective is sub-1:30.

Today, I tried
- 1'/1'r, which I found too intense to hold target split beyond interval number 2, gave up after 4.
- 150m/1'r, which I was able to hold target split for 12 intervals after the 4 miserable 1' intervals

If you have any suggestions, please post them. If you can be really specific about the workout, I'd really appreciate it.
- Work time or distance
- Rest time (specify active or passive rest)
- target pacing (relative to 500m PB)
- target number of intervals

My intent is to do one of these intervals per week, with the rest oft he week conforming to a 6 session per week WP training structure.

Thanks in advance!

[tewbz]

200/1:30 rest would proboly work well, i agree that 1:00 is a bit much that would be like doing 1500 meter interals at 2k pace

[sheehc]

Try these:

10 reps of 250m on, 500m active rest preferable, passive will do also (in which case make the rest 2.5', a little more even if necessary). Pressure is absolute max with rate at least 40.

10-20" on and 45-60" off, repeat until your wattage drops by 10. Rest 10', start again. Rate = whatever it takes to max out. The shorter end will be a little more pure starting power. The longer end of the work spectrum will just begin to have lactic acid creep in.

[luckylindy]

If you find a great workout for this, definitely post it here. I'm looking for the same thing. In the first week I rowed, I pulled the LP/500m times in my sig. Today, I cannot hit that LP time if my life depended on it, and I can only come close to the 500m time. All while I've gotten much stronger (as measured in the gym) and far better on longer rows.

[gregsmith01748]

Here are some suggestions from the folks on the UK site.

30" on / 60" off at 500m pace
8 x 200m on 4' rest at 500m pace
20 x 100m on 1' rest at 500m pace - 2
Rate capped 500m time trials increasing rate towards race pace (20,21,22,23...)

Looks like there is sweating and gasping in my future.

[mikvan52]

have you seen this?

http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=4864

it applies...

[jlawson58]

Here are some suggestions from the folks on the UK site.

30" on / 60" off at 500m pace
8 x 200m on 4' rest at 500m pace
20 x 100m on 1' rest at 500m pace - 2
Rate capped 500m time trials increasing rate towards race pace (20,21,22,23...)

Looks like there is sweating and gasping in my future.

Current 500 pace or goal pace?

[gregsmith01748]

Thanks Mike. Good stuff at that link.

I'm going to aim for my 500m goal pace.

[ThatMoos3Guy]

One of my favorite sprint workouts is 6 sets of 30 seconds on/90 seconds off. First couple are a lot of fun, because you can really let it rip, but the last couple are downright brutal. Gets the heart rate up really fast and before you know it you're wishing you could just collapse on the floor.

Tabbata's can also be "fun".

[goblin]

To improve your low pull, I have 2 suggestions.

1. Row on maximum drag
2. Row with your foot stretchers as high as they possibly go.

If I were a betting man, I would guess these would improve your 500m personal bests as well. Good luck.

Edit: Of course I am talking only about the actual test, and not suggesting you switch to this full time. It is also worth pointing out that endurance training is antagonistic to power development, so you will want to make sure you are thoroughly rested if you see what you are truly capable of.

[luckylindy]

2. Row with your foot stretchers as high as they possibly go.

Mechanically, how does this help? How can you determine the best positioning for the foot stretchers (I've always just left mine as they came from the factory default, which were almost as low as they would go)?

[hjs]

To improve your low pull, I have 2 suggestions.

1. Row on maximum drag
2. Row with your foot stretchers as high as they possibly go.

If I were a betting man, I would guess these would improve your 500m personal bests as well. Good luck.

Edit: Of course I am talking only about the actual test, and not suggesting you switch to this full time. It is also worth pointing out that endurance training is antagonistic to power development, so you will want to make sure you are thoroughly rested if you see what you are truly capable of.

1 hole extra showing maybe and 10/15 etra drag, but not going to the max, most people will break in 2 doing this. The second point I fully agree on.

[sheehc]

Mechanically, how does this help?

If the foot stretcher is low, then a portion of the force you apply will be in a more vertical axis and not directly applied to the handle/fanwheel so much as it is applied to lifting your butt off the seat. A higher foot stretcher will remove the vertical component so the force is more purely horizontal and transferred into the fan wheel. This comes at a trade in length for many people as it is also harder to compress with a higher footstretcher, but on the flip side, it often leaves you in a more biomechanically strong position (think of how much weight can be lifted when completing a full ass to grass squat versus a half or three quarter squat).

As to how one can determine the optimal setting, just play around with it while doing intervals. Set the footstretcher a little higher for a workout and see if the results improve. Nothing fancy needed to figure it out.

[NavigationHazard]

See Caplan and Gardner, "The Influence Of Stretcher Height On The Mechanical Effectiveness Of Rowing" in Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 2005 Aug 21(3) 286-96. Abstract at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16260848

This study had university-level male rowers doing roughly 1ks flat out on a C2 erg at various foot-stretcher positions. Raising the foot stretcher height 10 cm above the original position yielded the least decline in mean power per stroke over the trials. The researchers hypothesize as above, that raising the stretcher reduces active downward forces and thus reduces wasted rower energy. There's also a 2005 paper by Soper and Hume arguing the same thing.

However in Rowing Biomechanics Newsletter 2009 no. 6, Kleshnev arrives at a different explanation involving improved leverage angles relative to the hip joint. Kleshnev's explanation seems pretty convincing to me. You can read it at http://www.biorow.com/RBN_en_2009_files ... News06.pdf

[mikvan52]

My feeling is that, for rowers who want to excel on the water, to raise their footstretchers too high would risk the following result: They will develop neural pathways detrimental to a good OTW stroke. To do this in search of an artificial watts score would be sad.

The vector (directional) force of the drive matters too. A rower should not be attempting to push the bow of the boat down in the water. If the feet are high in relation to this hips and torso, this is exactly what will happen.

And, you know, if you really want the erg to go fast, you can drop it off a cliff.

Seriously, I love the erg. But, "tricking" the set-up? I get my best 500's with inferior form.. What good does that really do me in the long run?